More Than
by Wrong Password
Summary: Mary Bellwether is a quite literal black sheep, both in the color of her wool, and her parentage: the two most hated mammals in all of Zootopia. That's never stopped her, though, and her dream has always to serve and protect along with Precinct One. What happens, though, when another mammal decides to pick up where her parents left off? Can she be more than what everyone expects?
1. Chapter One: Mary Was A Little Lamb

As I watch, the bars slide closed across my mother's cell, and I sigh. It's been eighteen years since I was born, and ever since I was a little lamb, I've come here to see her every day. My father lives here too, but I don't dare see him, not after what he did to our city. My mother, she knew what she did was wrong, and she repented. She pled guilty, and it got her life with parole after fifty. There's thirty-two years to go.

My father, on the other hand, he's tough, he'll never admit he did anything wrong, no, even though he was the real brains behind the scene, something he told me that I should never tell anyone, lest he never get to see the light outside of a solitary confinement cell ever again.

It seems like a common theme that the children of criminals either a, become criminals themselves and carry on their parents' legacy, or b, shun that world entirely and turn to any other positive light that they can find in their lives, distance themselves as far as they can from what their parents did.

I was born here in this prison, it's only logical that I want to get out of here. I wish it hadn't happened, but at the same time, that would mean that I don't exist. Combine those two mindsets and you get a young ewe who really wants to do better, both than what her parents were, and than the world she's grown up seeing.

I put in my application to the academy a few months ago, and I still haven't heard back, not from Commissioner Bogo, not from Chiefs Wilde. I know what precinct I want to be assigned to, the same one that anycop who's anycop wants to be assigned to. City Center, Precinct One. Whether I'll be given the chance, though, that remains to be seen. Even now, after what's going on two decades after the Night Howler Crisis, Zootopia still hasn't quite settled down to what it used to be. There are still those mammals who still see our city as the city gripped by fear.

What my parents did, well, that didn't help anything, and now, well, I have some pretty big hoofprints that I've grown up standing in that I don't want to fill.

I grew up in an orphanage, of course I knew who my parents were, but I try to keep that under wraps from most mammals, because I know they're going to hate me, heck, probably even try to do worse to me, but I want nothing to do with what my parents got themselves into, no thanks, no sir, this young ewe wants to be a mammal in blue, and if they'll let me, I hope any I pray that they will, I'll serve and protect until the day I can't walk this planet any longer. I refuse to be what they're afraid of, and believe me, I know what they're afraid of, a certain blue flower that I thank Mister Wilde for swapping out, and I have every day of my life.

I know what the bar that I'm going to be held to is, I know it's going to be higher than most any cop, considering that I'm shooting to be in Precinct One, even higher than that given my family history. I need to break free of what they're going to think and make myself my own mammal.

It's going to be hard, I know that, but that was a guarantee, being me. I've tried to get work, but they take a look at who my parents are and they call the cops on me. Maybe that's why I want to be one, because I've spent quite literally my entire life around them, living with them, fearing a few of them, loving other ones.

If there's anything that's going for me, it's the fact that I'm a straight shooter. I never got in trouble at school, never got asked to be quiet by the teacher, never got sent down to the office, never, never, never, never never. I hope that the selection committee won't be as harsh on me as I think they will be, but I can only hope any pray, really. If I get lucky… then my whole world will change, and I can get out of here, and maybe even start making enough money to ask that cute fox I know out to dinner sometime. He's pretty nice, we met when he and I were at an info session for prospective Academy applicants. We've met again at the park a few times, but it hasn't really gotten real yet. Heck, I don't even know if his parents would approve, considering his parents are the Chiefs of the Precinct I want to be a part of.

It's all going to come down to luck, really, that's what I think, luck and a whole truckload of begging whoever might listen to make things work for me…

Anyways, it's nearly lunch time for all of the inmates, and that means that it's the only time today that I'm going to be able to see both of my parents together before they get brought back to their respective cell blocks. Everyone knows who I am, like I said, I've basically quite literally grown up and lived here my entire life. I need to get out of here, though, and see the wider world. That's why I'm thankful that the MII still exists, and that I could use it.

The rest remains to be seen, and considering that my name is Mary Bellwether, that my parents are Dawn and Doug, I'm really hedging my bets on the fact that this is going to be the hardest thing that I've ever done. If I'm going to succeed at this, then I need to prove that I'm more than what they're going to think I am, more than just their first impressions, more than all of that.

I'm ready to take on this challenge, I'm more than ready. Now just to hope and pray that I survive my first hour.

I'm going to need a lot of luck, but I think I'm going to need more than that. Whatever that extra unknown thing is, though, I have it, and I can do it, and I'm going to prove them wrong.


	2. Chapter Two: Rocky Road

The one thing that nobody tells you about the academy is how fluffing hard it is, and for goodness' sakes, I thought I was prepared. I'd heard all about how brutal the Major was, the old polar bear, but she retired going on a decade ago, and Wolfard took her spot. He's even more brutal than I've heard she was, but I don't dare complain, not even when my squad and I have woken up for an extra midnight run, just because they have me in their group. I see the looks that everyone gives me, looks of suspicion, and my own nervous habits, like pushing my glasses up my snout and trying to hold on to way too many things at once, habits that remind me of my mother, don't help anything.

Of course, though, that's nothing compared to the scat that they all give me for being a Bellwether, and of course, I'm no bellwether. I'm a mess, that's what I am, but I refuse to give up. Being eighteen, I can't go back to the orphanage anymore, at least not to live, and well, I need the money to get myself up on my own two hooves, so I put up with it, I put up with the stares and the occasional spit glob sent in my direction, and push forwards, push forwards and tune out the hateful stares and all of it. I can't focus on all of the negative and still have any hope of letting the positives shine through, that's something that I've just learned through experience.

Of course, Major Friedkin apparently taught Wolfard her knack for coming up with the most annoying nick-names. I've heard from some of my fellow recruits that Chief Wilde, her nickname was Fluff Butt. Me, I'm Cotton Head, Jason, the fox who's joined the academy with me, he's Hot Seat. Don't ask, I don't know, probably something to do with the fact that he came flying into training our first day with his tail flying straight out behind him like someone set his pants on fire. Either that, or it's because he slept through his alarms again…

I'm usually going to bet on the second one…

Anyways, we're on the line, ready for the last week of training, and let me just say that it's been pretty darn brutal. I feel like I'm understating what I've gone through quite a bit, but I really don't have a better way to say it, four months of hell week, repeated over and over, yeah, that sounds about right.

Of course, being just shy of four feet tall really makes things annoying, but that's life, and at least, if there's one thing that I'm thankful to my father for, it's that I got his height, so there's that. What I'm not thankful for is that most of my fellow recruits keep looking at me like I'm going to stab them in the back, and I've really, honestly, well and truly lost track of how many times all of the other recruits have checked their drinks with a sniff when I was sitting next to them, or they've been blunter and just plain asked me outright if I dropped something into their drink.

Of course not, what am I, evil? No, of freaking course not, but I can't seem to quite convince anyone but the fox in my class of that. I guess he gets it, we're both mammals that nobody's going to quite trust because of who we are. For him, it's species, for me, it's my parents, and we can't choose the cards we're dealt in either of those cases.

"You know, Bellwether," Wolfard says, walking the line of all us recruits, stopping right in front of me, "I'm honestly surprised you haven't tried to drug me yet. I've seen you struggling, you're last in every race, last, last, last, and my patience for you is on its last legs. Get the picture?"

"I would never-," I begin, but Wolfard cuts me off-

"Drill sergeant," he says, putting a paw on his chest. "Daughter of two convicted felons," he says, putting a pointed finger on my chest. "You've got a lot of proving yourself to me to do, Bellwether, do you understand me?"

"Yes, sir!" I say, snapping a salute, and he nods.

"I'm glad to hear that, Bellwether, now get your act together, Wilde, same for you, am I understood?"

"Yes, sir!"

"Good. I worked with your father- Wilde- when we were both officers under Bogo. He was a troublemaker through and through. Don't be like him, am I understood?"

"Yes, sir!"

"I'm glad, now ten laps, everyone, because Bellwether and Wilde can't shut their mouths, let's go!"

"Great, thanks a damn, Smellwether, trying to get us all killed? Haven't you paid attention at all, we've been doing nothing but running!"

I try to get away, but I trip and find myself sprawled on the ground while all of the other cadets keep running, and I push myself up to my hooves, determined not to quit, not now, not ever.

I get up to run, and as I start along the path, I hear Wolfard call after me.

"Just for that, another five laps, Bellwether, let's go!"

This isn't fair, but I can't complain, that'll just get me into even more trouble that I desperately don't want to be in…

Nearly half an hour later, I finish all of my laps, and of course, it's nearly time for us to head to the weight room for strength training, and after that, it's off to the pool.

By the time the day is done, I'm drained, and of course, that means that it's time for me to take a shower.

Me being late to the showers also means that the recruits that were the most pissed at me have had the time to set up a trap for me in the showers, greasing the floors with soap and shampoo that send me sprawing, and my head hits the floor hard and the world goes dark.


	3. Chapter Three: Waiting

Chapter Three: Waiting

When I wake up, my neck is stiffer than I've ever felt before in my entire life, my head is pounding, and I have no idea where I am, and then the thoughts filter back into my head that _oh my god someone tried to hurt me to kill me even maybe, _and that sets the sensors off in the infirmary. Gods, my head hurts, but I'm not seeing double, so that means that I'll hopefully graduate on time- with Jason. I want to be his partner- on the force, that is… but I can't really think right about now, my head is pounding too much.

...but at the same time, there's no way that I;m going to be able to relax like this, not with my head pounding like this. Thank gods they didn't send me to a real hospital, I mean, otherwise, how would I be able to keep up with everything? I might even have to flunk out…

"You okay there, Mary?"

I blink my eyes open, the sunlight streaming in through a window blindingly bright?"

"Are you a nurse?" I ask. I can't see, I'm too groggy from whatever meds they've put me on to really be able to move around to see.

"Unless they're allowing Academy recruits to become nurses while they're in school to become cops, then no… how are you, Mary?"

"Sore, Jason," I say as the shadow of the young fox looms over me. "I have the world's worst headache…"

"How about you come over and crash at my place when you get out of here? Where're you living right now, anyways?"

"Same place I basically have for the last eighteen years, Jason, the orphanage, and they're kicking me out for good when I get back from training… I'd love to come over to your place, though… how long was I out?"

"Just a couple hours, it's still the same day, Mary. The doctors already checked, they say you don't have any bleeding on the inside of your head, they want you to take two weeks and get caught up on healing before you even think about coming back for the physical part of your training, and they don't even want you doing bookwork, alright?"

"Says who?" I ask, crossing my arms over my chest. "I'll do what I want!"

"Are you okay, Mary?" Jason asks, and although he's smiling, I can see a lick of concern in his eyes.

"You care for me a little too much, Jason…," I say, smiling and giving him a soft tap on the shoulder that's caught a little bit by the IV lines that I'm hooked up to.

"Well, Mary, I mean, I like you a lot, so… look, you've been cleared to come back as soon as you're out of here if you don't have a concussion, that's just what I've heard them whispering about. Might as well put that whole "sneaky fox" thing to use for once. Wolfard's been placed on suspension pending a review by IA. Just, you know, thought I should let you know, be a good friend and all…," he says. "So, do you wanna crash at my place after you get out of here?"

"Jason, you know I do, but-"

"Is this gonna be that whole 'we're just friends' talk?"

Sighing and smiling, I put a hoof to my forehead and smile. "I'm not that predictable, am I?"

"Um, yeah, you really are… doctor's here, by the way, Mary…"

As he says that, one of the elk doctors, white coat perfectly bleached and stethoscope around his neck, steps into my room and then pauses, looks between Jason and I and then back and forth a couple of times before shaking his head and coming over to me. "You know he can't be in here, right? This is a prey-only infirmary wing, so…"

Gulping, Jason gets up from his seat and slips out the door, staring daggers at the doctor as he leaves. "See you later, Mary," he says, his voice trailing off as he leaves. "Catch you in the quad later?"

"Deal."

"What was that fox doing in here, Miss-?"

"My last name, Doctor, is Bellwether," I say, and I can see his pupils shrink to slits. "Look, doc, I want nothing to do with that, alright?"

"I'm leaving," the doctor says, jetting out of the room, a curious wolf nurse popping her head in to see them.

"What the heck was that?" she asks. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to overhear…"

"I'm Mary Bellwether… you know who my parents are, I'm sure, but yeah, I don't want anything to do with that… and of course, he wanted nothing to do with me... "

"Let me help you then," the nurse says, closing the door behind her, and I guess she can see my nervous look at the door, because she puts a paw out. "You deserve privacy, Mary, and you're not going to get any with that darn door open, now come on, why're you here? My brother an ass to you again?"

"Your brother? The drill sergeant? Wolford?"

"That's my brother, alright. Look, I'm sorry about him, he's an ass. "I'll do my best to get you taken care of, what happened?"

"Oh, some of my fellow classmates greased the floor in the showers… banged my head pretty hard…"

"Well, let's test and see, do you have a concussion…."

We do the test, and afterwords, the nurse, Maria, it turns out her name is, says I'm fine, I do have a little bit of a concussion and it's not that bad, but that I'm going to need to rest for a few weeks, which means that I'm going to be back a class when it comes to graduation… that sucks, Jason'll get his assignment before I do, which means we won't be together…

So imagine my surprise when he asks to wait a month to graduate so we can be together… I need to ask this fox out, I think...


	4. Chapter Four: Expectations Defied

The last two months have been hell, let me just say that, but they've been a lot less of hell than I think they would have been without a certain fox at my side. PT has been hell, and well, I'm glad I've had the help here, otherwise I don't think that I don't think that I would have made it…

What's also helped is that Wolford's suspended pending a review from Internal Affairs- and Jason's been passing along snippets of what he's overheard- he is a fox, and yes he can be sneaky, but having the two chiefs of one of the most prestigious precincts be your parents means that you kind of end up as a CI for the other recruits, whether you want to or not.

What's also still confidential is our relationship… I mean, I'm not going to tell my parents, flock no, I don't think I will until we maybe get serious…

But anyways, I need to clear my mind, because otherwise I'd panic, and well, seeing as I'm going to be wearing dress blues for the first time in my career, that wouldn't be good…

In other words, this sheep can finally hit the beat… well, soon enough. _Precinct One, here I come!_

It's Graduation Day, finally, and that means I'm up at six AM, on the dot, just like I'm supposed to be, just like the last four months of drills have pounded into my head. Jason's standing right next to me, bouncing on his heels. He's not a hybrid, like most people think he is, considering that his mother is a rabbit and his father a fox, but no, he's told me he's adopted, just excited, and I really can't blame him, I am too. He's been my bunkmate for the whole time that I've been in the Academy, he's taken care of me this whole time, I really, really like him, and well- yeah, I like him, that's about all I feel like I can say without winding myself up more, and I hope we're going to be partners on the force. Of course, if I'm not assigned Precinct One, it won't be the end of the world, but it'll sure sting.

"Ready?" he asks me, and I nod.

"You know it, mammal," he says, winking at me, and a smile creeps its way onto my face. The last four months have been something, to say the least. "You think we'll be partners on the force, Mary?"

"Karma willing, yeah," I say. "But what're they gonna think of us?"

"We're going to be Precinct One officers, Mary, we're the best of the best, they're sending us to work with my parents, probably, come on, we're co-valedictorians, we're just fine…"

"Yeah, we'll be fine if we make it on time, come on, Jason," I say, sweeping a hoof towards the clock on the wall and smoothing down my uniform, nestling my cap on my head. My mother kept a pouf of wool on top of her head, me, I keep my wool cut short. It's the small things, I had enough trouble during my time in the academy with the other recruits, heck, even some of the instructors, Friedkin excepted, that thought I was just the same as my mother, a conniving witch of a mammal who would do anything do get ahead and step on the necks of the predators. It took me nearly the entire time that I was here to get that idea out of the heads of most of them, and yeah, even to this day, some of them still think that I'm no more than a Dawn Bellwether junior, my mother's mini-me, trying to exert revenge.

There's a lot of things wrong with that, and firstly, it's that I'm my own mammal, I always have been and I always will be, that's not up for debate. The second is that I really want nothing to do with my parents, my father especially, I'm a grown ewe, not a little lamb any more.

Okay, time to turn thoughts into actions, let's go.

We head out to the stage that the Mayor, Lionheart's son Robert, has set up for all of us, and as soon as we do, I can see the flashes of all of the cameras that the reporters have trained on me, and I can hear all of their murmurs about me, that they can't wait to see me get sent to jail like my parents did, that they're starting an office pool at the paper, placing bets on when I'm going to get arrested, what I'm going to do to get myself arrested, yada yada, you name it. It makes me seethe, and I have to bite my tongue and force myself to keep walking to the stage and take my seat.

Jason sits next to me, they sort by rank now instead of last name, and I can see the frustration in his face, even though it's cool and set like mine. I've lived with him for four months, and you learn the ways of a mammal pretty quickly when they're mammals like him.

"Precinct One?" he asks, and I nod.

"Of course, Precinct One! Together forever, right? I mean," I say, blushing, as the ceremony starts, and it drags, but by the end, we all have our badges (and the crowd went suspiciously silent when they saw a certain quite literal black sheep make her way up to the podium; I think I heard a few anxious whispers and definitely a few boos), but I have my badge… and Jason and I are co-valedictorians of the class (and the whispers start again, saying that we must've cheated, how could Bellwether's daughter and a dam fox ever hope to succeed as cops, never mind the fact that we fought our way up here, and we'd never dare cheat, never…)... but we're there, and we're sure that we're going to be sent to Precinct One, that we're going to be partners on the force….

...and the second part is true, but what makes both of our jaws drop (and the crowd break into thunderous applause [I hate it, I hate them all] is that instead of Lionheart saying that we're going to Precinct One, City Center, we're going to…. Drumroll please…

Precinct Thirteen…

Which is in Happytown…

Oh, gods, life just got a whole hell of a lot worse...


	5. Chapter Five: A Normal Day In Happytown

Either the AC is always on in here, or there's a breeze blowing in...

Actually, you know what, I just realized something- and not the fact that the ceiling leaks, the slow and steady drips of water from the ceiling onto the pouf of wool on top of my head, frizzing it up even more than it already is, let me know that. No, the windows are all cracked, most of them are missing panes, and the steady crack-crack-crack of things being smashed outside is something that we've gotten used to. I mean, not that it's a good thing to have gotten used to, but come on, it's Happytown.

Spoiler alert, Happytown's far from happy. Hell, it's, well, it's exactly that, hell… and it's not as if we can really do anything here, the gangs and mobs, well, they don't want us here. The first few weeks here, I at least thought that maybe Jason and I would be able to go out and patrol the streets, maybe get out of this building and go check out the new apartment that we're sharing down the street (or, well, the apartment that we're supposed to be sharing down the street, the whole precinct's been on lockdown for the last two days). I guess what I'm trying to get at is that, well, we were the freaking co-valedictorians of our class at the Academy, but they shoved us off into a corner like we were just supposed to suck it up until we quit. I feel bad for Jason, honestly, because it's only because he's my friend, I think, that they're making him suffer along with me…

...and that's what I tell him, and he nods and sighs. "Yeah, I know… and Chief Otterton knows too... I swear, she's trying her best, but ever since, well… ever since- you know what happened, right?"

_Oh, I remember… a few years ago, a certain florist and a car got into a bit of a discussion… the car won… it was all over the news, the funeral lasted days, goodness, who could forget?_

_Me, apparently._

"Yeah, I do," I say, sighing, pushing the few strings of wool that want to drop into my eyes away with a few hoofed fingers. "I mean, look, I know we're not getting paid to complain, but-"

"You really want to complain?" I hear a voice come from behind me, a female one like mine, but harsh from years of barking orders around. "Go right ahead, Officer Bellwether… please, by all means, go right ahead…"

_Carp, it's the Chief…_

"Sorry, ma'am," I say, whirling around in my chair and bolting upright, snapping a salute to my forehead as I do.

"Look, Mary, I'm not out to get you, and I know that both of you wanted more out of your careers than this, right? You wanted to get away from the crime, am I right; Mary, I'm asking you in particular. I'm not going to judge you, I swear, other than to let you know that I'm going to expect great things out of you- the standards are going to be higher than high, fair warning. Can you handle it?"

"Of course, Chief Otterton," I say, smiling as I keep my salute sharp, my arm starting to burn with the strain of trying to keep my muscles locked.

"I'm glad to hear it… you have no idea how helpful it is to actually have officers here who are willing to do their jobs… Celestials above, the PI force here is useless, heaven knows they're all bankrolled by the mafia… so do you two want to make yourselves useful?"

"Of course we do!" both Jason and I shout, and then, making sure that we don't actually say anything, '_jinx…'_

"Okay, if you can settle down, I'm pairing you two up… it's a beat assignment, can you handle it?"

"Of course…," Jason says, tone level, but the set of his ears and the thrashing of his tail betrays his fear. That, and the way that I can see his nose twitch. It never twitches, he's terrified, I can see that. _Jason, you're gonna be fine. We're gonna be fine, just you wait!_

"Mary, are you with him?" the Chief asks, and I nod, forcing myself to be strong as well.

"What's the case, ma'am?" I ask, hoping my hooves aren't shaking too much or that she can't see the sweat beading on my forehead and right in the small of my back…"

"You do know that Jesse Braider was never arrested, am I correct in stating that?"

"Yes, ma'am, you are," Jason says, a frown wrinkling his muzzle, amber eyes glinting cold. "So you expect him hauled in, you want us to catch him, is that it?"

"And maybe hunt out and dismantle the Howler cell that's backing him. We don't need a repeat of what nearly took my husband from me, am I understood?"

Feeling something start to sink into my stomach, a cold fist of ice (cliche, yeah, I know, but seriously, that's exactly what I feel like what's going on), I manage to wipe the grimace from my face. "Yes, ma'am…. And do you want us to leave now…? I mean, we really-"

"You're both scared, I get that, but there's a Night Howler cell that's beginning to spread its roots…. well, really… its flowers are only know just starting to show, I know the roots are there… If we let this go, Mary, Jason, I'm sorry, but that would probably split this city for good…. Those breaks aren't gone, even eighteen years later… and with the election coming up, I don't want to imagine what it could do… tear the city to shreds, and that would be the best-case scenario…"

"Well, if it's really that bad, we'd better go…"

"Officer Wilde, you're right, but check the armory before you go- and please, be careful, alright?"

"You got it, Chief…"

Unfortunately, none of us notice the blue haze starting to fill the room until it's too late...


	6. Chapter Six: As You Like It, II:vii:139

Smoke itself is bad enough, blue smoke is worse, and what's worse is that it can only mean one thing… and, heh heh, I've got two predators in here with me, two predators who have direct ties to the last damn time that this happened, two predators with sharp teeth and claws that I'm sure have been filed to points and are even sharper…

Case in point, the way that both Jason and Chief Otterton are twitching isn't good- but hell, it's the Chief's that's really scaring me… I'm hiding in the back corner of the room now, and I've got my eye on either the door to the street (not a good idea, I hear those pops right outside) or the closet (which can't be locked from the inside, woo)... and even I'm feeling a little angry right now…

The smoke is swirling from the air vents, and Jason's shaking in the middle of the floor, clinging to a trembling otter, trying to hold her back- wait what?

He hasn't lost it, oh thank gods, oh thank gods-

But hell, he's not happy….

"_Mary-," _he manages to grit out, '_run. Now. Just do it…"_

_But what about you?_ I want to ask, but I know this isn't gonna end well if I don't listen, know that the door is locked but that there's a window there- at least my hooves are tough, and-

The growling behind me grows and grows and I'm smashing through a window and I can smell blood and that just means that both the mammals inside are going to probably be coming after me…

My arm is bleeding, I don't care, I need to run…

It's cold out here, and yeah, I hear pawsteps coming up behind me, that's not going to be good…

_Bleeding… pain, ow, run, predator! _my senses tell me.

I'm running, I'm running, I'm getting lightheaded, this isn't good, run, fear, run…

There's a van that's coming up behind me; I glance at it. White, unmarked. Soldiers at the wheel? No, thank goodness... but just because they're not soldiers doesn't mean that the gun they have aimed at my forehead isn't real…

"I- if it's money y- you want, um, I- I don't have my wallet," I stammer, hooves knocking together nervously…

"Oh, no, no, no, that's not what we want at all…, we want to know why Wolford let you live…"

"What?" I ask, feeling sweat pool everywhere. "I- I- I don't- I don't know what you're talking about…"

"Okay, so then let's make this easy, you come with us, alright, and then we explain." Not a question, a statement, a demand, but I don't give into demands. Life's already asked enough of me, and I'm not going to die here.

Taking a breath to calm my nerves, I remind myself what I'm doing here, cold air, savage officers, need to get help….

"I don't think I will," I say, finding a hoof going for my pistol. It may not have live ammo, but stun darns are gonna have to do- if it doesn't slip out of my hooves first, though…

"Who- who sent you-," I try to ask, but I feel stars all over, a searing pain in my jaw, and it takes me way too long to realize that I've just gotten socked, and pretty flocking darn hard, too.

_Oh no they don't…_

I try to calm myself down, deep breaths, Mary, deep breaths, don't need to be in the slammer like your parents. You can calm yourself down, yes ewe can…

And then the mother fluffer takes another swing at me, and that thought, the 'be calm and reasonable, plan your actions, remember your training' thought, it goes right out the window. Cut on my arm that's steadily bleeding be damned...

What happens next is a blur- I remember stunning a few of them, some more got hooves to the face (and if I survived this, I remember thinking, I was going to have _so_ much paperwork to fill out), and the rest of them, well, for some reason, as a general rule, most goons have a place that's really easy to plant a knee in, a place that got kneepads to them…

And then I was left on the street alone, with a pounding headache to deal with and two mammals who, for all intents and purposes, had gone savage….

What a wonderful way to end the day… right?

Wrong….

I thought- I was thinking, I guess I mean to say- that today couldn't get any worse, I guess. First we get Howler-bombed and I'm the only mammal who manages to stay completely together and not frothing, and then I get beat up, and I have to haul myself back to the station and stay low, hope the gas'll have gone away, and then maybe, maybe I'll get to finally check out that apartment that Jason and I are gonna be sharing.

Except of course, problems tend to multiply. That's just a fact of life, it's a fact of being on the job like this, it's not just a fact but the reality of Happytown (yeah, I know I've said it, but this place sucks!)...

I'm really tired and irritated and scared, and I'm going to need to call an ambulance, which is what I should have done to begin with, but no, I was a coward and I ran…

Everything's going to be alright though, I know that, everything's going to be alright, right? I'm going to get back to the station and I can get help for my friends…

...and then reality works its way back into my mind…

...because when I get to the station, not only are all the lights off, all the windows smashed, and a little bit of blue haze still hanging around…

...and I can't tell if I'm afraid, terrified, or flipping the freak out, because there's noone to be found in the station, nowhere….

And there's a note on the floor, covered in dust and tile fragments…

"_All the world's a stage, and all the foxes and ewes are merely players… what a fun game, right? To die, to sleep, to find your friends, ah there's the rub…"_

There's no signature…

And with my luck, there's no hope, either...


	7. Chapter Seven: Friends In Low Places

_I have to fight the fear, I have to stay calm here. They already don't trust me, I don't need to give them anymore to distrust me._

_I'm on the phone, is that right? I think I'm on the phone oh my god I'm scared Jason and Chief Otterton are missing and it's the middle of the damn night and all of my spare clothes were in the station and the station's burning, blue and black smoke curling and mixing with the flames as they rise into the sky._

"D- C- Deputy Commissioner Swinton," I hear myself stammer, barely feeling like I'm living in my head, barely feeling connected with my body right now, "There's- there's been an e- emergency, Wilde and Ch- Chief are go- gone," I stammer out, and for a second I think that he's hung up on me because the line's gone dead…

And then I hear the breathing on the other end of the line and I wish it had gone dead, that he'd be offering to help me, but no, that's not how my life works.

When I jumped into this job, I was told to serve and protect, that's something that I still stand by, something that I'll always stand by. Apparently the gosh darn swine- the literal swine, he won't have any of that. My family's reputation precedes me I'm going to guess…

"Mary, it's the middle of the night, they've probably just gone out for a walk…."

"But the station-?" I hear myself stammering, and then I hear a sigh on the other end of the line. "Look, Officer Smellwether, get out of my fur. You want to find them, call back in the morning. Or maybe you could try to find them. I have better things to do than help out glorified felons."

I hear the click of the receiver on the other end, and what I've known, what I've subconsciously realized since I got myself into this, sinks into my mind. I'm just being set up to fail here, over and over and over again… this has to be illegal, there has to be some way that I can make them face the music, someway I can get help for my friends…

I hate to have to do this, but it's the only thing that I can think of. I only have the one lifeline here, and it's one that I've resisted using for as long as I can.

I dig my cellphone out of my pocket, feeling chills run up and down my spine even though my back is being warmed by the fire behind me, a fire that's burning my dreams away.

I know the number by heart, even though I've never dialed it, and my hooves tap it in, and I hear it ring through, once, twice, three times before Officer Perkins, the lynx receptionist, picks up the line.

"Savannah Central Penitentiary, you've reached the reception desk." Nothing more than that, but it's enough to help me calm down, okay, I'm talking to an actual mammal here, an actual live mammal who usually answers the phone like that even though it's totally weird and he works in a prison but okay that's normal for him, yes, that's normal calm down Mary..

"Officer Perkins, is Doug Ramses available?"

"And with whom am I speaking?" he asks, calmly, something that makes me even more agitated, even though I know it's just procedure but my friend and my boss are gone and this isn't going well, and I'm scared…

"Officer Mary Bellwether," I say, hoping my voice isn't shaking. It is, though, I know it is.

"One second, Officer Bellwether," the lynx says, tone much too jovial.

After what feels like forever and an era, I hear my father's voice on the other end of the line.

"Who is this?" he demands, tone rough, and then I tell him it's me, and his tone softens. "Mary, how are you? It's been a while, I miss you."

"It really has been a while, dad, look, do you know anything about where Jesse is?"

"Are you trying to get me to rat?" he asks, tone hardening, just ever so slightly.

"Dad, the precinct just got firebombed and both Jason Wilde and Octavia Otterton are missing, anything you can share with me might help, alright? You're talking to me as your daughter, not as a cop…"

He sighs, and I hear the stress in his voice. "Last I knew, Mary, he'd rebuilt in the same place he did before. You're not going to arrest him, are you?"

"Dad, I can't make any promises, but I'll do my best, alright?"

He sighs again, and I can hear the stress there. Kinda feels like we've traded stress... "I love you, Mary… I'd do anything for you, you know that, right?"

"I do, Dad, I do," I say, feeling a smile come to my face.

"You know," I hear him say, "I gotta ask, why'd you come to me first? Cops not helping you? I'm not surprised."

Criminal that he is, my father's not a dull mammal.

"The family name carries, Dad," I say. "Service and protection isn't given to criminals, even when they wear the blue."

"But you're not-" he starts, but I cut him off.

"Look, Dad, I know you mean well, but to the Assistant Commissioner, I'm just another Bellwether, if you get what I mean…"

He sighs again, and I can almost hear him nodding. "Yes I do, Mary. Assistant Commissioner Swinton, right?"

"Right."

"Okay, this is something I'm going to tell Officer Bellwether, is that clear?"

"Yes sir."

"Okay, I happen to know that Swinton was caught taking bribes for Ketazine, you know who they are, right?"

"The- oh my." Ketazine's Zootopia's army's largest defense contractor, this isn't gonna be good.

"Exactly. I don't know much more than that, but-"

"Probable cause, right?"

"Hey, it's useful. It's what got me caught, so find Jesse, find Ketazine. You got this, kid," he says, and I can hear the satisfaction in his voice, the pride, something I've never gotten from him before.

"Thanks, Dad," I say, smiling despite all this, a plan coming to mind, "I really appreciate it."

"You got it, Mary. I'm rooting for you."

With that, he hangs up the phone, and I have a plan. I don't want to get Commissioner Bogo involved, but I have to tell Jason's parents what's going on…. I can't keep them out of the loop, how would that make me look to them? I already know that they don't really approve of us being together, I don't need to make their opinion of me- both professional and personal- worse.

After what feels like another eternity, I finally manage to get a call through to Precinct One. "Staff Sergeant Maria Clawhauser speaking."

"Hi Sergeant, there's been an emergency."


	8. Chapter Eight: Jinxed It

Even when she was just an officer, Judy Wilde- well, she was Judy Hopps back then- wasn't known for staying calm on the job, especially not when her emotions got the best of her.

Eighteen years later, nothing's changed… well, now she's a mother and a Chief and tempers tend to flare a little more easily…

But for the life of me I never thought that I'd ever find myself comforting a sobbing bunny… never let them see that they get to you… that was her mate's admonition when he was a kit…

I've been wondering if my mother and father are pulling strings from behind the scenes, and well, in a way, I hope they are…. Because then I might get Jason back sooner rather than later…

Oh, about that- Chief Wilde- the rabbit Chief Wilde- who I've taken to calling Aunt Judy in my head (I know she'd never actually let me do that)- is freaking out…. and sweet Celestials above can rabbits scream…!

How do I know that?

Easy… it's because they only sent someone to bring me to Precinct One the next day (after a scared and sleepless night, of course, because they can't be bothered to send someone to let the chiefs of the city's most famous precinct know that their own son's been kidnapped until nearly twelve hours later… if this wasn't really life I'd think that they'd been watching some stupid cop-show drama on TV that made them think that they'd have to wait twelve hours to report a kidnapping…

Come on, mammals, the first twelve hours are the most important, that's, like, the first thing that you learn in the Academy, whatever you're doing, whether that's trying to find a missing mammal like I am right now or if you're trying to track down a killer or whatever… the first twelve hours are by and large the most important, and they didn't send anyone for me for that long…

Actually, now that I'm thinking about it, it really feels more likely that the Commissioner didn't even bother to pass on the message until this morning…. And you know what Commissioner, flock you… just because he's a fox doesn't mean that he's a worthless pelt… _dam speciesist…_

_And now I'm gonna have to pay the piper..._

"Oh my gods he's been kidnapped- Mary, it wasn't your parents was it oh my god I shouldn't have asked that I'm sorry!" she yammers, feet-paws hammering the floor so hard that, if she ever decides that the police force isn't home for her anymore, a construction crew could make good use of them as a jackhammer…

Nick- _Chief Wilde_, my bad- shoots me a look that I can't quite make heads or tails of (does he want to strangle me or does he feel bad for me because I have the two sheep that I do as parents? Both? Yeah probably both I'm sorry Nick I didn't do anything! No calm down, Mary, you can't freak the flock out like this… they're not going to hurt you calm down!).

"I swear it wasn't my parents Chief I swear!" I plead, hooves together… please!"

"Mary," Wolfard says (where in the heck did he come from, I didn't even hear him come up behind me), looking at me with a more menacing version of the glare Chief Wilde (the fox kind) gives, "why aren't you in Happytown? Don't you know the city isn't safe anymore?"

"Yeah, about that-," I start to ask, but both Wildes cut him off.

"Not now, Wolfard. You want to chew her ear? Do it on your time. This is our time," Judy says, almost baring her teeth at him, lips barely covering them.

"But-," Wolford tries to protest, finding himself silenced again.

"Danny, really? After the IA review you're already on thin ice. One more word and I'll have your badge," Judy- Chief Wilde, be respectful, Mary, you're seeing what happens when you frick up- says, staring him down. "Mary, please, our son, where is he?"

"I- I don't know," I say, curling into myself a little bit. I'm afraid of what could happen next, what Wolfard could do, why they didn't fire him outright…

"What do you mean you don't know?" Nick asks me, looking almost furious in his fear… flock it why aren't we sending out folks to find him, Danny, please… get out there, please!"

"Yes sir," Wolford grumbles, snapping a salute and taking a stack of papers in his paws and carrying right over to the trash. "These files go here, right chief?"

"Danny, that's not even funny, those are flocking classified, what're you thinking?"

"I dunno," Wolford says, pawing them back over to fox-Chief Wilde. "I'm gonna get myself out of here, how's that sound?"

"Sounds good to me, Wolford," Nick growls out, and the wolf scampers out of the room. "_Celestials above, what the hell is with that guy…?_" Turning to me, he forces a smile onto his muzzle. "Sorry, Mary, I know this is awful, please, I'm trying not to panic too, okay, so stay with me _my son's missing oh my god he's gonna die and it's gonna be all my fault… scat I'm an awful mammal…"_

"Chief, I don't know if you meant to say that part out loud like you did, but that's what I'm trying to figure out, sir…. And um, I have connections that say that, well… you know anything about what's going on with a company called Ketazine?"

"Bet you a million bucks that they're involved in this, Mary… how do you know…?"

_Oh scat I can't tell her…_

_But if I don't tell her…_

_She might have me suspended… or would she?_

_I don't know, gods I'm scared…_

"I have connections, ma'am… and while I may not like them, they're not getting anything out of me…"

"I've been in that same spot before, Mary, I won't press you right now… Just know that if it comes down to it, you might need to make that choice. Family you're born into, or family that you make… Which is it gonna be, that's the question. Nick, get the Kevlar and the ESWs, I'll call the meeting…"

"Yes ma'am," the other Chief Wilde says, snapping his other half a salute. "Mary," he says, "are you coming or not?"

"Yes sir, coming sir," I say, finding myself getting more and more scared as we walk into what I assume is the bullpen. Precinct Thirteen doesn't even have one, we just meet out in the lobby…

Gods I hope that I get a precinct to go back to after all of this, after they find Jason…

_If they decide that they want to help Jason after all of this, and yeah, please help him, fox or not please find my friend, I- I… really like him…_

As soon as I get there, though, everyone glares at me, like I've done something wrong, and there's only one seat left… right at the front…

And everyone in the ZPD knows what that seat means…

It means you were lazy, means you weren't paying attention, that you're gonna get chewed out by the chief…

And guess who gets to sit in it…

Me, of course…

Gods, I'm only a rookie, I'm scared, I want to find my friend, my precinct was just bombed with howler gas….

And just because I'm Dawn and Doug's daughter (alliteration ha ha! Gods I'm stressed I never make stupid puns like that unless I'm about to have a breakdown…), I'm not being taken seriously…. Could this day get any worse….?

"Okay, everyone, settle down, settle down," Chief Wilde- Judy- says, and I can hear that she's fighting to keep the fear out of her voice, "Precinct Thirteen's been attacked, and they're going to need some reinforcements…. If I call your name, you're going to be under command of Major Lionheart until I tell you otherwise," she says, gesturing to a twenty-something lioness in the row behind me, and everyone hoots and hollers… Mary, you're already part of that group… additional mammals going along: Officers Aullador, Patterson, Jimenez… grab your gear, get ready to go, and-," she pauses as her husband comes barging in, panting. This can't be good, you don't interrupt briefings, _ever_…

"Officer Bellwether, can you come with me please?" he asks me, and I do ask I'm told, wondering why I'm suddenly feeling even more overwhelmed by dread than I know I should be…

Once we're out of the briefing room, he puts his paw on my shoulder, and scat I'm gonna get fired, aren't I?

But no, what he says is worse…

"Mary, Doug Ramses was found dead in his cell less than an hour ago… I'm sorry."


	9. Chapter Nine: Well, Sheet

I haven't had a panic attack in ages- AGES- but holy hell I haven't forgotten how awful they feel… I can't breathe, there's no air getting to my head, oh my gods oh my gods Celestials above I feel like I'm going to pass out…

"Please tell me that this is all just some sort of April Fools gag please?"

"Mary, for one, it's November, two, no… and I'm really sorry but you're gonna need to go down to the city morgue to identify him…"

_Well, this- this is a little much for me right now… nineteen and already in way over my head, how is this going to help find my friends?_

"Only if you promise to keep looking for Jason and Chief Otterton, alright?"

"We're doing our best, Judy, we're doing our best… now go down to the morgue…"

"But-"

"That's an order, officer…"

"Yes sir, of course, sir…"

The morgue is only about a block away, a small, rather decrepit (probably purposefully so) office building tucked away on a back street… and I hate it… As soon as I step inside, the cold invades right through my clothes, right through my wool and everything- there's only one thing that's on my mind-

It's cold in here.

That's quite literally just about all I can really think right about now, as I step into the morgue, following a thylacine officer whose name I don't know and quite honestly I don't care to find out.

A few minutes earlier I'd wandered down here, mind still in a blur, a weird red haze flickering at the edges of my eyes. I'm really on edge right now, and I don't know why. This whole scenario just reminds me of the scat that went down that got me sent here, the scat that's still going down, it's been just about twenty, maybe twenty-four hours since the mammal I like the most, as well as the otter who might have been my only hope at getting inside the mind of any of the disgusting creatures that would have done this sort of thing to me and to everyone else, every other mammal in the city of Zootopia, yeah, she's gone too…

And all I know is that for once I'm glad to have company here. I may not really like him, I certainly don't trust him, but Wolfard is a mammal who I at least feel makes sense-

That got thought wrong- if something happens to me, well, three times with him around is a pattern… not that I haven't already realized that he probably wants to hurt me- but then at least there'd be a suspect…

The thylacine pulls out a drawer from the bank of cold steel cabinets and drawers, all of them polished to a shine, each and every single one of them with a tag tucked in the front…

The one that he goes to is along the left wall, column A1…

Drawer thirteen… there's a joke there, I know it, but whatever the hell it's supposed to be, I don't get it, and I definitely don't find it freaking funny, not at all… I may have hated the mammal with all of my guts but he was still my father, there's that going for him at the very least…

The drawer rolls open, and the thylacine pulls back the sheet, and yeah, that's definitely my father… oh my god oh my god oh my freaking-

Air gods above I really really need air…

_Breathe, Mary!_

_Okay, good thing you forgot to eat breakfast again, Mary,_ I think to myself, _otherwise you'd be retching your guts out all over the freaking place… breathe wait the air's starting to smell weird again oh gods this isn't good…_

"Do you smell something, Mary, or am I just imagining things?" Wolfard asks me, and I shake my head.

"I don't know sir, I think I'm smelling the same thing…"

"Reminds me of my time in the war," he says, panting… "this doesn't feel right, Mary…"

The thylacine's left the room, when did they do that? I didn't even hear them go…

"Mary, this really doesn't feel right," Wolfard says, panicking now. "Mary, check the door, quick, hurry…"

I do as I'm told, of course, I'm a good officer… and "It's locked!"

"Are you sure?"

"I may have hooves but I can open doors!"

"That doesn't answer my question!" he snaps, more angrily than I've ever heard him…

"Yes sir, it's locked sir!" I yell back, the air getting hot and thick now, and oh scat it's starting to turn blue...

"Please don't eat me," I whisper, hooves together.

"What?"

I point to the corner, where there's gas pouring out of the grates all over the place, and Wolfard looks terrified…

"I'll do my- going quick Mary- best- but- agh! -no promises…"

And I'm running, afraid… Even as I flee I can hear him screaming for me to come back, for me not to leave him, and then as he loses it, I can hear him begging me to tell his wife and pups that he didn't mean to hurt me, please, tell them that he didn't mean to hurt me…

And then he's gone, and a savage wolf is after me and I'm running, running, running all over the place, trying to flee, trying to slam doors behind me but I'm not fast enough and OW! He just got my arm a little bit with his claws oh gods he's got me, hoof to the face, sorry officer, I don't want to do this and I force him off of me, get back up, jump up onto one of the tables that's thankfully empty and I level my gun at him- it's only a tranquilizer gun, it should just put him to sleep, right?

I shoot him, and he drops, and he's frothing at the mouth this isn't right this isn't right- and he chokes out a plea for help… it shouldn't have worked that quickly, the gas is making me lightheaded, gods, he's not breathing is he- he's just out cold, right? Right- oh my god oh my god oh my god… no, he's more than just out cold, no no no no!

Check his pulse, please Celestials above let him have a pulse...

Nothing... my heart drops.

Grab the radio off of my belt- it's not working, flock me!

Grab Wolfard's radio, thank the Celestials above that there's a connection!

"Nine-nine-nine, officer down, officer down officer down at the city morgue, officer down officer down!" I scream my throat raw, scream and scream and scream until I pass out from the lack of oxygen, and when I wake up the blood on my hooves- how'd that get there, I don't remember, there wasn't any blood, did I do CPR or something?

What's going on I don't understand- why is my uniform all torn up- it looks like I've been clawed? Sure feels like it too...

_And there's a knife in my hoof! Where'd that come from? It's not mine!_

_This isn't right! I didn't do anything! I'm innocent what just happened I can't remember anything please!_

"Mary Bellwether, I should have known… we never should have taken you on in the first place… and now you'll go to rot… just like your mother... "

_Screw you, Delgado!_

They're loading me into a cruiser and there's still blood all over me and I see them drape a sheet all over the whole mess, load a wolf into the back of a bus- wolf's body, I mean-

And then I'm being shoved in and the door is being slammed behind me…

And I still have no idea what's going on… only that I feel like I'm following down the same path that my parents are…

And that chills me to the bone...

And I just know- I just flocking know- that this isn't going to turn out well...

* * *

Hey folks, sorry for the holdup, it's been crazy here… hope you're all doing okay, despite everything… best wishes!

-WP


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